Packers' Woodson nears his return

Green Bay --- Soon, the Green Bay Packers will welcome back someone with 55 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries and 12 touchdowns in 206 games of experience.

Good news for a defense that hasn't forced turnovers at the rate of seasons past. On Monday, coach Mike McCarthy indicated that Charles Woodson would likely return next week --- possibly sooner. Woodson has been out six weeks with a broken collarbone.

"Charles is probably, I would think maybe next week would be my guess there," McCarthy said. "If you ask Charles, he’s probably pushing to play this week. There’s some more testing that you have to do to make sure he’s cleared. He has not been cleared yet."

The Packers would certainly welcome back their one constant, roaming playmaker. Whether it's at the slot corner position or safety.

This season, Green Bay has no interceptions in five games, compared to just two all of last year. It's no coincidence that the Packers lost three of those five games with zero picks. It's also no coincidence, the Packers knocked off Minnesota Sunday, 23-14, after Morgan Burnett picked off Christian Ponder twice.

Both plays swung momentum.

Young players have mostly stepped up in Woodson's absence, particularly Casey Hayward. And at 36 years old, Woodson may be declining in other areas. But the Packers are still looking for him to make the one, two, three plays that can change a game.

"Charles is a guy who can make plays," Capers said. "He has consistently. So you always welcome back guys you feel can make plays. Like the game yesterday, it would have been a totally different game with the two plays Morgan made. And that's the way it normally is. It comes down to -- in these hard-fought games, these division games -- who makes the critical plays at key times. You never know when they're going to come."

Considering it has been six full weeks since Woodson broke his collarbone at St. Louis, there's a chance he gets back onto the field and makes a push for Sunday night's game against Detroit. But with that huge game at Chicago looming the following week, the Packers look to give him two full weeks of practice, much like they did with wide receiver Greg Jennings.

Capers has watched Woodson run occasional routes on the scout team and hasn't seen anything wrong.

"So I don’t think there’s any problems with his movement and that," Capers said. "It’s just when they feel it’s time he can go ahead and take some blows on that shoulder.”

About Tyler Dunne

Tyler Dunne covers the Green Bay Packers. He has been on the beat since 2011, winning awards with the Pro Football Writers of America and Milwaukee Press Club.